


I Am Not Yours

by AsleepInTheTardis



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha!Dean, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Background Poly, F/M, Hand Jobs, M/M, Masturbation, Mostly human AU, Orgasm Delay/Denial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-01-11 09:22:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1171388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsleepInTheTardis/pseuds/AsleepInTheTardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is about to book it to another town to fight yet another monster until he meets Castiel, a Beta with an attitude and a potentially deadly secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Poison And Wine

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the Scandal quote: 
> 
> "I am not yours! I don't show up places because you want me! I am not yours."

"This is stupid. This is so fucking stupid."

Sam groans in frustration. "Dean-"

"I know!" He takes a swig of his beer in an attempt to curb his irritation. "I said I would come, but I never said I'd enjoy it." Dean grumbles.

Sam throws his brother a look, but doesn't say anything more. He was already pushing his luck by dragging Dean out of the motel and to some random party on the outskirts of town all so he could try and fuck some Beta girl, but after this last hunt, Dean knew Sam was aching for a night off. And with the addition of an insistent, cute blond who had practically dry humped him in the town's local diner, there was no way Sam was spending another night in their motel room watching Spanish soap operas. The girl had a bouncing ponytail and that whole "Midwest sweetheart" thing going for her, and as usual was drawn to Sam like a moth to the flame. And with Sam's determination to get laid came his determination to get Dean laid too.

So here he is, gulping down sub par beer at what could only be described as a party in a barn, bored out of his skull and counting down the minutes until they could leave. There's a dull ache running down the right side of his body from being slammed up against a wall by a curiously strong witch earlier in the week, and he'd rather be at their shitty motel relaxing with the static-y TV and a bottle of bourbon to be perfectly honest. But along with being brothers for life, Dean would be Sam's wingman until the end of recorded time and vice versa.

"Do you need another drink?" Sam's girl shouts over the buzz of drunk youths, gesturing to the empty beer bottle in his hand.

Sam nods his head, the corners of his mouth tugging up almost imperceptibly, and she immediately scurries off in search of more alcohol. Dean's eyebrows lift so high, they practically dissolve into his hairline.

"Dude, she's all over your Alpha ass. You sure she's a Beta?"

"You mean is she lying?" Sam's forehead crumples the way it did when he was seriously thinking about something. "I doubt it. I can't even remember the last time I saw an uncollared Omega. That RH1 thing ripped through them pretty quick. Omegas might as well not even exist anymore." He narrows his eyes. "You know that."

Dean shrugs. "I'm just saying, this girl is crazy attached to you."

"Maybe I just have a way with women."

Dean snorts into his beer and stifles the urge to roll his eyes. Although Sam has long since proven that he can pick up women with a simple toss of his perfectly conditioned hair, it's a silent truth that neither of them acknowledges for fear of awakening their competitive Alphas. "Yeah, okay Casanova."

Dean shifts back on his heel and scans the room, searching for his next conquest. While he was still a little battered and bruised from his monster of a day job (ha), he might as well find himself a Beta to hook up with for the night. Like any other Alpha his age, Dean loved sex. And why not? It felt great, he was great at it, and for at least a little while, he could integrate some normal into his life. And while sex between an Alpha and a Beta wasn't exactly normal, it was quickly becoming less and less taboo. The government had even lifted its strict ban on Alpha/Beta mating, allowing a couple to be legally mated and remain so throughout the lower forty-eight.

Everything had changed since the outbreak.

An infection the Center for Disease Control had dubbed RH1 had run rampant through the Omega population, killing most and rendering others completely infertile, leaving only a small percentage unscathed. Afterward, uncollared Omegas found Alphas - any Alphas - and settled into mated life. And those who were brave enough to walk around outside either without a collar or without an Alpha were tormented by Alphas who only wanted to fuck them and go about their business, just to say that they'd had an Omega. In this day and age, it'd be easier for an Omega to take a pill and fuck up their insides pretending to be a Beta rather than subjecting themselves to the abuse most Alphas provided.

Dean had never personally been with an Omega, but sometimes he found himself wishing that Sam would find one to mate with so he could leave the life to wander off in search of the so-called American dream with one of the last of a dying species. But there weren't enough fertile Omegas producing other Omegas, no Omegas were coming from the "sinful" unions of two Alphas, and since Betas only produced Betas, time was ticking on Dean's dream life for Sam.

Deep down in the recesses of his mind, Dean hoped that this girl was just a big liar on the pill. It'd make everything so much easier.

Dean watched Sam get swallowed up by the crowd as he was pulled away by the tiny blond. Even if his brother hadn't found himself an Omega tonight, Dean was still happy for the kid. He was pretty sure Sam was straining to hold on to the last wisps of his sanity as he'd more recently buried himself in hunting to distract from the simple fact that he didn't especially have anything else. He could only lean on Dean for so long-

"Sorry!"

Before Dean can process what the stranger is apologizing for, he feels a splash of water against the back of his neck. Only...it smells a little stronger than water. A lot stronger. If Dean's nose is correct, the owner of the gruff voice behind him had just dumped bourbon down his back.

"Watch it!" Dean says, spinning around, ready to start throwing punches if the situation called for it.

But the bright blue eyes that greet him force him to unclench his fists. They're round, apologetic, and as clear as the sky right after a huge rainstorm. The kind of blue a person could get lost in...

"Sorry." He says again, and Dean realizes that he's been staring.

Gaping, really.

"It's fine." He shakes his head. The liquid beads and rolls off his worn leather jacket, but not before some of it seeps into the collar of his shirt. Dean pulls awkwardly at the damp fabric clinging to his skin. "What is this?"

The stranger holds up an ornate glass bottle. "Wild Turkey. You're wearing my friend's drink!" He smiles, stepping closer to Dean as a group of four girls attached to one leash, being pulled by one lanky Alpha shuffle past him.

Dean eyes the bottle, his heart leaping a bit at the prospect of hard liquor. If he drank it, at least he'd be having a good time like Sam told him he might. "Will they miss it?"

Blue Eyes lifts and drops his shoulders. "She's off with some guy, so I doubt it."

Good.

Dean scans the stranger's throat and his heart leaps when he finds it empty of a collar. No collar means he isn't beholden to anyone.

Even better.

"What do you say we get out of here and down the rest of this?"

"I don't even know you!" He juts out his chin defiantly. "You could be a psychotic killer."

"I'm not psychotic," Dean says, turning on his signature charm. "I just like your taste in liquor."

He gives Blue Eyes the slow, panty-dropping smile he'd patented back in high school, and watches him crumble beneath his gaze. "What did you have in mind?" He concedes.

Dean takes Blue Eyes by the hand and leads him through several packs of college students grinding against each other to music Dean could barely hear. The noise of the party had become something of a dull roaring in Dean's ears since he'd intertwined his fingers with his new drinking buddy's. Although Dean was absolutely positive he'd never met Blue Eyes before, there was something oddly familiar about touching him. Holding this stranger's hand felt like coming home after being away for weeks on end... he assumed.

Having lived a rootless existence for most of his life, he'd never been away for weeks, come back to the same place and found it to be reminiscent of the home he'd once had. But there was a certain warmth and comfort that Dean hadn't felt before and he knew he'd spend the rest of forever trying to replicate it once he and Sam moved on to the next monster.

"I'm starting to question your whole, 'I'm not psychotic' thing." Blue Eyes says.

Dean rounds the corner of the barn, leading him to where he'd parked Baby. He didn't trust the party's attendants enough to park her out in the open. She she'd survived being crushed by a semi, but a busted window is still a busted window.

"Relax." He says, reluctant to let go of the stranger's hand. Dean takes the bottle of bourbon from him and carefully pours a shot into the cap before handing it off to Blue Eyes.

He downs the shot in one gulp and looks at Dean, licking his lips. "So what's your name, anyway?" His voice is a full octave lower. "I don't drink with someone unless I know their name. It's a rule."

The sound travels straight to his dick and Dean has to slouch against Baby in an attempt to hide his growing erection. Jesus, was he that easy? Sure Blue Eyes has a voice like a sun-soaked gravel path, warm and rough, but it's nothing to get all worked up over.

He clears his throat. "Dean."

"Cas." He smirks, sliding into a sitting position on the hood of the Impala and handing Dean the empty bottle top. "This is your car, right?"

"Yeah, of course." He watches Cas run his fingers over the shining, black paint. "You're sure your friend won't miss this?" He tilts the bottle, watching the liquor slosh back and forth.

When Cas laughs and shakes his head, Dean tosses the cap onto the grass and takes a swig from the bottle. He needs a faster delivery system. The alcohol burns going down, leaving a warm, prickling trail from his mouth to his stomach. Passing Cas the bottle, Dean catches a glimpse of those electrifying baby blues that seemed to glow something fierce in the moonlight, and suddenly he's not thinking clearly. His eyes drift down to Cas' lips, watching as he brings the edge of the bottle to his mouth, but doesn't take a drink. He's looking at Dean, waiting for his next move. Dean feels himself growing hot under the collar of his jacket. He squares his shoulders, suddenly thankful that the eighty degree day had died into a sixty degree night with a breeze. But Cas' eyes don't let up. They're practically glued to Dean, and for a nanosecond, Dean is leaning forward to find out what Cas' mouth tastes like. But he stops himself almost immediately.

Get it together Winchester.

"So, you live around here?" Dean asks, straightening his spine and resting his foot against the front bumper of the Impala in a weak attempt to keep himself and his dick facing forward.

Sure he's horny, but that doesn't mean he has to maul anyone.

"I live close enough." Cas says, giving the bottle back to Dean. "You obviously aren't from here though."

Dean's head jerks back involuntarily. "Why'd you say that?"

"Because I've never seen you before. It's kind of creepy, but this town is small enough that people know when a stranger blows in from somewhere else. You and that skyscraper you walked in with."

"Yeah, that's my brother." Dean laughs, taking another gulp, no longer feeling the burn at the back of his throat. Either that, or he just didn't care about it anymore. "Kid's about as subtle as a Mack truck. But more importantly, you were watching me when I walked in?"

Cas reddens and takes the bourbon back from Dean. "The mood got slightly more pouty when you showed up." He says, taking an unusually long swig. "I take it you didn't really want to come."

"Not my idea of a good time." Dean shrugs.

"Oh come on," Cas scoffs, running a hand through his deliciously unkempt hair. "Drinking free booze behind a barn with a guy you don't know? You sir, need to reevaluate your definition of 'a good time.'"

"This," he points to the space between him and Cas. "Is way better than that." He gestures to the barn.

"You two staying long?"

Dean shakes his head. They'd broken up the tiny coven of freakishly strong witches, so as far as the job was concerned, this town was already in the rear view. Just a few hours ago, Sam had mentioned something about ten people two states over with symptoms of Djin poisoning, so he'd already started preparing to hit the road.

"Nah, we're just passing through."

"Hmm," Cas intones. "Then we shouldn't waste any more time, should we?"

"Wh-"

The tail end of Dean's question is muffled by Cas' mouth as he reaches out and pulls Dean forward into a kiss. In the first second, Dean panics and thinks about pulling away, as if he'd pounced on Cas and not the other way around. Instead, he pushes forward, pressing his tongue into Cas' mouth, his earlier want to taste him transitioning into a desperate need. Cas opens his mouth with a soft moan, shifting Dean into the empty space between his legs, all the while nipping and pulling at his bottom lip. There's a gentle thud as the glass bottle slips out of Cas' open hand and hits the dirt beneath their feet.

Underneath the taste of the bourbon, which overrode Dean's senses and filled his nose with its heady scent, Cas tasted...different. There was sort of a metallic tang to his kisses. Nothing too strong, and if not for the hypersensitivity that went along with being an Alpha, he never would have been able to taste it. But the taste was there, too faint to be blood and too strong to be nothing. Then again, for all he knew Cas could've had a tongue piercing that he'd taken out for the night and Dean was tasting the remnants of that.

Suddenly, his mind fills with the image of Cas on his knees in front of him, demonstrating just how useful a tongue ring could be.

Dean's dick swells painfully against the zipper of his jeans and a low, possessive growl rumbles deep in his chest, the sound reverberating between the two. His fingers are digging into Cas' sides, trying to bring him impossibly closer, when Cas suddenly pulls his perfect mouth away and looks at Dean with an intense curiosity. Dean launches forward to reclaim the mouth that had been on his only a moment before, but Cas pulls back further, blue eyes scrutinizing green.

"You're an Alpha."

It's less of a question and more of a statement tinged with surprise. Like Cas genuinely hadn't been expecting him to be an Alpha, an idea that in turn surprises Dean since most Betas purposely sought Alphas in lieu of the RH1 disaster.

"You don't smell like an Alpha."

Dean laughs bitterly.

Keeping two Alphas in close quarters without a Beta or an Omega to mediate usually resulted in the literal ripping apart of both Alphas in a violent battle for true dominance. And spending so much time with Sam in one-room motels had begun to wear thin long ago. So, rather than killing each other, they flipped a coin. Dean lost. So, he grudgingly stepped back and let Sam's Alpha flourish. But in falling to the wayside, had Dean lost the dominant Alpha he used to be? Maybe stifling his Alpha for so long had turned him into an honorary Beta with no real place in the world, especially now since not even a Beta could identify him as an Alpha. Apparently he didn't even smell like himself anymore.

"I think I'm insulted." Dean says, now pulling his body away.

Cas shakes his head, slipping his hand underneath the collar of Dean's jacket to keep him from moving any further. "No, don't... I..." he stutters. "Didn't expect..."

Dean's fingers flex, and before he knows what he's doing, his hand is running through Cas' soft brunette mane and yanking his head backward, exposing the pale flesh of his throat. Cas ends his sentence abruptly and a high-pitched moan falls from his pink lips.

"Careful how you phrase your next thought." Dean says, his mouth drifting back and forth against Cas' Adam's apple.

His breath comes out in short pants. "I didn't know, is all."

"Do you know now?" He asks, giving Cas' hair another firm jerk.

"Yes!" He gasps, splaying his hands on the hood of the car to keep himself from toppling over.

"Call me Alpha."

He bites at the sensitive flesh of Cas' throat. "Yes Alpha." He moans as Dean smiles against his skin.

Something animalistic had been awakened in Dean, and for the time being he's going to enjoy it. Having Cas writhing beneath him in pleasure is definitely something he needs tonight. Fuck reeling himself in. Fuck being the responsible one. He didn't even care that they were out in the open. In fact, Dean wanted someone to walk by and see them fucking. He wanted everyone in the tiny town to see how he'd destroy Cas and make him whole again. How Dean would make him beg for it and then give Cas everything he had to give. Just because he could.

With his free hand, Dean reaches between the two of them, undoing Cas' jeans and shoving his hand down the front of his boxers. When Dean wraps his hand around Cas' hard length, he gives it one good stroke and practically comes in his pants at the low, guttural groan that makes its way out of Cas' mouth. The hand entwined in Cas' hair slides down to cradle the back of his neck, pulling his mouth to Dean's in a rough kiss. Dean strokes Cas again, hoping to elicit the same noise as before.

Cas tears away from Dean's lips. "Fuck!" He hisses, thrusting into Dean's hand.

Dean stills. "I don't think I said you could speak." He removes his hand and grasps Cas' jaw, running his thumb over his swollen lips. "Now, what should we do about that?"

Cas doesn't answer, only whimpering into the palm of Dean's hand at the loss of contact where he needed it most.

"You don't come until I say, understand?" Cas nods and Dean tightens his grip on his jaw, forcing his gaze upward. "Understand?" He asks again.

He's using that tone. The authoritative tone that seemed to be hard-wired into every Alpha. The one that commanded respect and supplication, and had been known to bring both Betas and Omegas to their knees. Dean watches him silently, that familiar Alpha scent now rolling off of his body in waves. Cas hadn't been aware of his status as an Alpha male before, but he sure as shit is now. And christ is it a turn on. Shivers run down Cas' spine and he utters the one thing that breaks through his haze of sexual desire. The only thing he can think to say.

"Yes Alpha."

Dean loosens his grip and kisses Cas again. Slower this time. Tortuously slow, making sure that his hands never get too close to Cas' abandoned dick. Instead, his hands roam underneath Cas' cotton t-shirt, running his fingers along every inch of searing flesh he can reach. The two separate briefly when Dean finally pulls the shirt over Cas' head, tossing it somewhere into the darkness. He bends down, wrapping his fingers around the waistband of Cas' jeans, taking his boxers down and off with them, leaving Cas sitting ass naked on the hood of the Impala.

And Dean would be lying if he said it wasn't the sexiest thing he's ever seen.

With bleary eyes, Cas reaches for Dean's belt buckle, but his hands are roughly swatted away. "Don't." Dean orders. He presses at the center of Cas' chest. "Lie down."

Cas' blue eyes reflect only confusion, but he doesn't ask questions, he only lies down on the car's cold metal hood with his legs dangling off the front end. Even with the night soaking everything it touched in darkness, Cas practically glows under the dim moonlight. His muscles ripple beneath his skin, lithe and begging to be caressed. His head lolls to one side, allowing Dean's eyes to work their way up the full length of his body, finally resting at the rhythmic pulsing at the base of his jaw. Dean could've watched the artery jump with the ebb and flow of blood, but his lust egged him on, pushing him forward like an invisible force.

"Touch yourself." Dean's fingers brush nonsensical patterns over Cas' hips.

"Hmm?"

"Touch. Yourself." He repeats.

Cas raises himself onto his elbows. "I want you to touch me," His tongue swipes across his plump lower lip, a silent challenge. "Alpha."

He purrs the word. Dean's stomach coils into a tight knot and he has to bite down on his lip to keep from throwing himself onto Cas.

He nudges him down onto his back. "Only if you stroke your cock for me."

He settles himself between Cas' knees and palms his thigh, relishing in the surge of pure adrenaline that courses through his veins. Cas' cock twitches at his touch, lying thick and hard against his stomach, pre-come pooling beneath the swollen head.

"Do it." Dean says, the Alpha edge returning to his voice.

Cas releases a slow breath before finally wrapping his long fingers around his erect cock. His gaze remains firmly fixed on Dean as he slowly strokes himself, hips arching into his hand. Rosy lips part to release a slow moan, not quite like the one Dean had worked out of him earlier, but enough to remind Dean just how hard he is. Cas maintains a steady pace with one hand while the other slips between his spread legs to gently tug at his balls. He writhes on top of the Impala, knees clamping around Dean's frame.

Another moan.

This time, it's from Dean, who suddenly finds himself lowering his fly and reaching down the front of his own jeans. Cas' eyes are half closed as he thrusts into his own hand, but he pauses when he sees Dean palming himself.

"Don't stop." Dean grunts.

Cas begins again, rubbing himself faster, twisting on every upstroke. His low moans morph into short whimpers as he feels himself drawing closer and closer to the edge. Over the sound of flesh on flesh, he hears Dean grunt again and the sound only makes him stroke harder. A tingling pleasure builds from the base of his spine and he's going to burst any second now. He's arching his back, preparing himself for the impending release when he feels his hands being moved.

He let's out a frustrated huff as his pleasure slowly scales back. Cas opens eyes he didn't know were closed just in time to see Dean's head dip between his thighs. His lips form an O of surprise as he feels Dean's warm mouth engulf him. Cas pushes up into his mouth, moaning as Dean's tongue slides up and down his length. Dean smirks, touching himself to the moan he was quickly falling in love with. His head bobs up and down in a practiced motion and Cas grasps for something - anything - to hold on to as he feels himself hit the back of Dean's throat.

"You taste so good, you know that?" Dean growls, briefly switching out his mouth for his hand.

Cas circles his hips up again when he feels his orgasm returning to him. As Dean goes back to licking and sucking, Cas wraps his fingers around the front end of the car, praying to god that he won't snap off something important when he comes. His heart beats furiously in his chest and he finds himself on the edge once again.

"I-" he moans. "I'm-"

Cas squeezes his eyes shut so hard, white bursts of light appear behind his lids. He's gripping the car, fingers going numb from the strain. A breeze blows past the two but neither notices. Cas is so close, so very close. And suddenly....

Nothing.

His orgasm recedes yet again when Dean pulls his mouth away at the last moment.

"Not until I say, remember?"

Cas wants to sit up and punch him. But he doesn't. His arms and legs have gone to jelly and his mind is in a fog. The only thing he can focus on is how painfully hard his dick is. His breathing is heavy and ragged and he can barely bring himself to move, so Cas just lies there, hands still holding on to the car; stewing.

He's vaguely aware of the car bouncing slightly, and the question of why pushes its way through Cas' frustrated sex fog. But the pieces slide together when Dean's warm body covers his. When had he even taken his clothes off? The last he'd seen, Dean was mostly covered, but now he was lying on top of Cas just as naked as he was. Feeling skin-on-skin was surprising, but he welcomed the sensation nevertheless. Their cocks brush against each other as Dean adjusts, offering Cas some friction, but not nearly enough.

"You're so good." Dean murmurs, kissing him deeply. "You've been so good for me. Can't wait to fuck that tight ass."

Cas kisses him back, shifting his weight to the right and turning the both of them onto their sides. He slides his hand between their bodies and instead of reaching for himself like common sense told him to, he grabs Dean and pumps his hand over his thick cock. Dean's eyes roll back into his skull as his head falls forward, mouth opening to bite at Cas' shoulder.

"I don't want you to fuck me." Cas says.

The drink he'd spilled earlier had soaked into Dean's soft flesh. Even with their sweat and the distinct scent of an Alpha permeating the air, Cas can still pick out the smell and taste of the slowly fading bourbon. It's making him pushy and bold.

"I want you to come just from me touching you." He whispers.

Dean wants to object, but his body betrays him, pulsing and twitching against his will. He wants to climb on top of Cas and come inside him in the midst of a fantastic fuck, but his limbs won't listen to his brain, operating under their own volition and thrusting into Cas' palm.

Dean bites down harder.

Cas holds Dean's shoulder in an iron grip, as he strokes faster. He puffs hot air onto Cas' shoulder, as he feels himself heading towards release. His head tells him to pull away and make things last a little longer, but it just feels too damn good. His fingers dig into Cas' ass pulling him closer as he jerks his pelvis forward, yearning for more contact.

"Alpha," He says. "I want you to come."

Dean tries to resist, tries not to succumb to the suddenly demanding Beta. But he can't help himself. It's the seductive way that the word "Alpha" rolls off Cas' tongue. The way his blue eyes burn with desire when he looks at him. And the way that Cas, who he's only just met, touches him like they've been doing it for years. These things have him coming in thick, hot spurts despite his best efforts not to. His entire body tenses with the strain. Cas' hand still pulls and twists at his cock, coaxing him through the powerful orgasm.

"Shit." He breathes, coming down from his high and kneading at Cas' hip.

Dean rests his forehead against Cas' damp shoulder, watching his come drip down Cas' flat stomach and onto Baby's hood. He'd have to give her a good hand wash later, but this is definitely worth it. He gives Cas' shoulder another kiss, his heart falling into the right rhythm.

Cas brings his hand up, examining a smear of come that'd missed the space between them and landed on his index finger. He looks to Dean, a devilish smirk tugging at his lips.

"Open your mouth." He says.

Dean starts to tell him no, but with Cas' talented hands and those playful blue eyes, he's not in a position to deny the man anything. So he slowly parts his lips and waits. With a triumphant smile, Cas runs his finger across Dean's tongue and nudges his jaw closed. But before Dean can swallow, Cas catches his mouth in a kiss, sighing a contented sigh as he pushes his tongue into Cas' mouth, sharing the bitter taste. They kiss for what feels like ages, tongues pushing back and forth against each other in a slow, sensual battle, until Dean pulls back.

"I want to taste you now." His voice is rough and his cheeks are ruddy.

Cas nods and leans back onto the Impala as Dean kisses his way down his torso. Some kisses are light as a feather, while others involve much more tongue. At the base of his stomach, Dean intentionally avoids licking off the stripes of his come. Instead, he swipes his thumb through the cooling mess and instructs Cas to suck the digit clean.

And he does. Really well.

Enthusiastically, even.

So well, that Dean would come again if he wasn't already so spent.

When he finally gets to Cas' poor cock, he's not surprised to find that it's just as hard as when he'd left it. He brushes his lips across the head before flicking his tongue over its exposed underside. Cas arcs toward his mouth, instinctively chasing the warm sensation. Dean smirks and runs his hand over Cas' stomach before taking his swollen cock into his mouth.

The noises Dean works out of Cas are positively pornographic. He grips Cas at the hip, holding him steady as he attempts to thrust up into his mouth. It only takes a minute before Cas is once again on the verge of an earth-shattering orgasm. Dean sucks harder, running his tongue over Cas' slit. He moans, the vibration rippling against Cas' sensitive skin.

"Alpha-" he pleads.

"You wanna come?" He murmurs.

Cas slips a hand into Dean's hair and whimpers something that sounds like a yes. And it's all the answer Dean needs, "Then come for me, baby." He growls.

Dean takes him all the way into his mouth and releases his hold on Cas' hips, allowing him to thrust up as much as he wants to. But it doesn't take long. Cas is too close to hold off any more. A couple good twists of Dean's tongue have Cas coming into his mouth and digging his short nails into Dean's scalp in an attempt to keep his hold on reality.

Dean swallows everything Cas gives him, before releasing his sensitive cock with an obscene pop. A smug smirk yanks at the corners of Dean's mouth as Cas remains on the car, chest flushed and heaving. He gives Cas' thigh a hearty squeeze before grabbing his pants off the ground and yanking them on. Lust sated, he's now less inclined for someone to find him naked behind the barn.

"That was..." Cas starts, but trails off.

"Amazing." Dean finishes, pulling Cas into a sitting position and running a thumb over his rosy lips.

They dress slowly and in relative silence, only pausing every thirty seconds or so to share a tender kiss.

Those lips. My god, his lips.

Cas and his mouth were quickly becoming the thing Dean couldn't stay away from. Every time he put some distance in between them, within moments he was back for more. They find themselves fully dressed and attached at the mouth again just as a random girl rounds the corner.

"Sorry!" She squeaks, backing up. But her brain kicks in before she can disappear completely. "Castiel, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Dean moves away as Cas tugs his shirt down over his exposed hips. "Well you found me." He smirks and Dean has to bite back a smile of his own.

God, they're acting like a pair of teenagers.

"Need to talk to you." She says, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear.

"Two minutes." Cas glances at Dean.

The girl nods and heads back into the barn, giving Dean a quick once over before she leaves. But she doesn't look at him like she wants him, a look Dean could spot from a mile away; there's something about the way she quirks her eyebrow and the way her forehead wrinkled at him when she recognized Cas. Dean knew that look. He'd been on the receiving end of that kind of distrust quite a few times in his life, and he'd even had to dole it out occasionally.

"Is that your sister?" He asks.

Cas' eyes widen in surprise. "How'd you know?"

He shrugs. "She had a look. That protective older sibling look. Like she'd rip out my insides if I so much as said the wrong thing to you. She looks like she can be pretty deadly when she wants to be."

"That definitely sounds like Ruby." Cas fastens his belt and looks to Dean. "You know, if you lived around here, I could say I'd see you around." He lets out a breath. "But you don't, so that begs the question, how do I make my exit without it getting awkward?"

Dean laughs. "Tell me it was nice meeting me. That's the standard, right?"

Cas chews on his bottom lip before stepping forward, grasping the lapels of Dean's jacket. "It was, wasn't it? So nice meeting you," he presses his lips to Dean's, pulling him into his slim form. "Alpha." Cas whispers against his mouth.

Dean's body tenses and shudders as Cas releases him and goes off in search of his sister. Watching Cas walk away, Dean runs a hand over his mouth and fights off the urge to chase after him and kiss him until they both couldn't breathe. There's something about Cas, something...different. It makes Dean want to grab him and call him his. If only to posses his lips and have Cas calling his name and no one else's.

Dean feels a squeezing in his chest as he pictures Cas getting fucked by someone who isn't him. Hands running through his messy hair, teeth digging into his shoulder, marking Cas as theirs. Claiming him-

Dean rolls his shoulders in agitation and pushes the image to the back of his mind.

What the hell is wrong with him?

No more than an hour with Cas and Dean was already daydreaming about putting a collar around his throat and doing depraved things to his body. What he needs to be doing is mentally running through his packing list and making sure he doesn't leave behind another phone charger. Finding the right cord for his crappy burner had been getting harder and harder recently.

No. Better yet, he should be trying to find Sam.

Dean takes a deep breath and heads back toward the party. "Crazy night." He mumbles.


	2. At The Table

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a chapter!

Back inside the barn, the scene had hardly changed. Music was still pulsing through the space and the young people were still all over each other. Dean skims the crowd, searching for Sam's familiar mop of hair and finally spots him on the opposite side of the makeshift dance floor. Leaning against the bar, Sam's face is half buried in the crook of his girl's neck as they sway lazily to the music. Dean pushes his way through the throngs of people and clumsily makes his way toward his little brother.

Two feet away, Dean stops in his tracks, wondering if he'd scoped out the wrong skyscraper. The guy he found wasn't romancing the blond that had dragged him away earlier, but a brunette in black leather. But it has to be Sam; he's towering over everyone else here by four inches at least. 

What the hell had he missed?

"Hey!" Dean shouts.

Sure enough, Sam pulls his head out of the girl's shoulder and locks eyes with Dean. "Hey!" He smiles back, hand dipping to the girl's lower back as they both turn to face Dean.

Dean almost chokes when he sees who his brother's been nuzzling. It's Ruby. The same brunette who'd come looking for Cas not ten minutes ago. 

His sister.

"You." Dean says. 

Her eyebrows lift in shock. "You!" Her surprise is slightly muted by what sounds like anger, but Dean isn't sure. At the moment, he isn't even sure which way is up.

Sam stands a little straighter. "You two know each other?"

"How do you know him?" She twists to face Sam. "Are you two together or something?"

Dean rolls his eyes as Sam gives her the standard, "What? No! He's my brother."

She scrutinizes Dean, still not completely sure whether or not to trust him. Dean opens his mouth to speak when wouldn't you know it, the blond from earlier bounds into Sam. Dean takes a step back, preparing for a good old-fashioned cat fight. Had Sam honestly been playing two girls at the same party? Jesus, you'd think he hadn't taught his little brother anything.

"Ready to go?" The blond asks, painfully unaware of the situation.

Ruby reluctantly shifts her attention to the blond. "Did you know he had a brother?"

Blondie shakes her head, smiling. "Hot."

"He was making out with Cas behind the barn." Ruby points at Dean and he suddenly feels like he's stolen something.

The blond's eyes widen and she smiles at Dean, seemingly just realizing that he's been standing there. "Oh! You should come to the cabin!"

"Don't-" Ruby starts.

But the blond waves her off. "No, shut up. Seriously, you should come and stay for the holiday weekend. It'll be fun, we'll make a thing of it. I mean, Cas would want you to come and we want Sam to come. So it works out kind of perfectly."

Blondie leans her head casually on Sam's chest and Ruby makes a point of staring at the toes of her shoes. Dean searches for an answer, but he can't stop trying to figure out what he's walked into. Between the way Sam's arm is wrapped around Ruby's hips and how his blond friend curls her body into his, it feels like Dean's entered The Twilight Zone and missed thirty years, not thirty minutes. His brother must see the confusion on his face because he quickly jumps in.

"We were supposed to be leaving tomorrow, but we can delay for a couple days, right Dean?" Sam pulls out the puppy dog eyes. 

The logical half of his brain is screaming that this is a bad idea. 

Dean has no problem with Sam spending the night with two gorgeous girls who look like they're in love with him, hell he'd even applaud it. But turning a one night stand into a weekend-long double date? It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. On top of that, Dean's pretty sure just showing up at someone's house immediately after what was supposed to be a one-time thing on the hood of a car, qualifies as stalking.

No matter how much the other half of his brain wants to go. 

The part of him that wants to taste Cas again is already in the car, shoving Metallica into the tape deck. Dean's stomach clenches as it dawns on him that he's obsessing over a total stranger and that he quite possibly needs to reel it the fuck in.

"Dean?" Sam asks.

Two warring halves and as a whole, Dean is still helpless against the puppy eyes. 

"Yeah," he says, rubbing at the back of his neck. "That's something we can do." Dean clears his throat.

"Great!" The blonde says. "So we'll meet you guys there!"

She grabs an abandoned pen from behind the bar and scrawls what Dean assumes is her address into the palm of Sam's hand. She blows the black ink dry and whispers something into Sam's ear before grabbing Ruby's hand and taking off. 

Dean stands back, mouth half open. "Dude, you wanna... explain whatever the hell that was?" He says.

Sam smiles awkwardly. "It's complicated."

"Oh, I got that part."

"Okay," Sam takes a breath. "So I was invited here by Ruby -- you know Ruby -- and we-"

"Wait," Dean holds up his hands. "Blondie with the ponytail invited you here."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Ruby is Cas' sister. The brunette." He clarifies.

If Sam's going magically pull off this threesome, then he should at least get the girl's names right. If they aren't clawing each other's eyes out now, they'll certainly turn on Sam the second he calls one of them by the other's name. 

"Both of them are named Ruby." Sam says, brushing the information aside. Obviously he's had enough time to move past that little tidbit. "They're mated. Betas. Not a big deal."

Oh, this keeps getting better and better.

"But," he continues, apparently not having reached the climax of his story. "Get this, they want me to come back with them. The both of them. I guess they only date guys together, or something? I don't know the specifics, but then again I didn't really ask too many questions."

"So you agreed to be the third in their freaky, co-dependent sex triangle?"

"Yeah, basically." Sam nods his head.

Dean doesn't know whether to be proud... or concerned.

Sure it's possible to collar multiple partners at one time, both Beta and Omega -- it's commonplace even -- but standard practice involves an Alpha taking on one partner at a time. Collecting them, if you will. Dean doesn't think he's ever seen an Alpha get involved with anyone who was already mated to someone else. As an Alpha, it's only natural to want partners to be subservient to you and only you. The ferocity that makes Alphas go at each other's throats when left alone for too long is the same rage they feel when they aren't the dominant. Mates answer to each other. There is no place for a dominant Alpha. Period. End of story.

But if Sam can keep the peace and make it work...

"More power to you, brother." Dean laughs, folding his arms. "Good luck."

Sam drapes his arm over Dean's shoulders and herds him towards the exit. "So who's Cas?" He asks.

"Subtle." Dean deadpans.

"Oh, come on! You're not gonna tell me?"

Dean stays quiet for a long while. He actually doesn't say a word until they're outside and almost to the car. He doesn't know exactly how to explain Cas to Sam. He's brunette Ruby's brother, but Sam already knows that. Beyond that, Cas is a mystery. They've only just met, and for most of that time they were naked. He's basically a stranger.

And yet, Dean feels a twinge deep in his stomach when he thinks about seeing him again. Almost like the nervous excitement of seeing a new love again. Blood floods to his cheeks and he stops walking, untangling himself from his brother's arm, fully prepared to catch shit for blushing like a little girl. But Sam either doesn't notice Dean's bright red face or is choosing to ignore it. Either way, Dean is grateful. 

"I, uh-" Dean pinches at the bridge of his nose. "We just met." He hedges. 

Dean doesn't know how to communicate, that he's attracted to Cas for reasons that even he isn't sure of. Sam nods once and keeps walking, but turns around just as he reaches the passenger side door. 

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, you know that right?"

Dean meanders to the driver's side, kicking at a stray pebble as he does. He rolls his eyes. "Of course I know."

"If I'm wrecking your one night stand plan then I'll catch a ride with the Rubys." 

Sam leans over the hood of the car and Dean pulls a face. "What are you doing?" He asks.

"But if you like this guy," Sam continues as if Dean hasn't said a word. "Then we can go. Do you? Like him?"

Dean narrows his eyes. Is Sam really trying to weasel some sort of admission out of him? Right now? As if trying to figure out why he's so drawn to Cas in the first place isn't hard enough, now Sam wants a confession? 

Dean's throat is suddenly dry.

"What, are we in middle school? Can we just go?"

"Ah, no. Not until you tell me that you at least like this guy a little bit." He holds his thumb and index finger about an inch apart.

Dean shrugs, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, maybe? I don't know! What difference does it make?"

Sam's face breaks into a smile. "It doesn't. But, thanks for clearing up whose ass print that is on the hood of the car."

 

***

 

"I cannot believe you invited them to stay for the weekend! Jesus Ruby, it's like you don't think!" Cas shouts.

Once his sister had broken the news that they'd be entertaining not one, but two alphas for Memorial Day weekend, Cas had been cycling through his 'Stages of Rage.' First, he was silent, sitting in the backseat of the car with his arms folded and staring out the window for the entire ride to the cabin. The pacing had shown up shortly after Ruby had parked her truck in the driveway. He paced back and forth on the front porch for about six minutes before barging inside and heading straight into the third stage; shouting. 

"Castiel Novak, you should be on your little Omega knees, thanking me!" Ruby retorts, pulling her blond hair out of its high ponytail. She looks to Ruby. "Two, am I right?"

Cas cringes.

Years ago, as a joke, he'd started referring to his sister as Two in an attempt to differentiate between the Rubys. But once they mated, Cas referred to her as Two so frequently, everyone else started to call the younger Ruby Two too. But deep down, Two is still his cutesy nickname for his sister and it pisses Cas off to hear Ruby use it in the midst of an argument. 

"Don't try and bully her into this! You invited them, Ruby!" Cas snaps.

She huffs and rolls her eyes, lifting herself onto the edge of the kitchen counter. "I invited them because you need to loosen up! Have a good time for once in your life Castiel! There is a large stick that makes its home permanently in your ass-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Cas groans, rubbing at his temples. "Do you really not understand why this is a horrible idea? Or do you need me to whip out a short bus explanation?"

Two clicks her tongue. "Cas-"

"I'm an uncollared Omega, Ruby." He says slowly, ignoring his sister's blatant disapproval. "Do you know what Alphas do to Omegas nowadays? They kill us. Violently!"

Ruby's expression is an irritating mix of amusement and exhaustion. "He's not going to kill you!" She says.

Cas bites down on the inside of his cheek and briefly considers wrapping his hands around Ruby's pale throat and throttling her. Sure, Two would never speak to him again, but Cas' imagined satisfaction makes the tips of his fingers tingle. Cas never enjoyed being around Ruby and the main reason was because of her constant insistence that he was perpetually miserable. 

As a Beta, Ruby floated through life. The Alphas paid her no attention because she would never bear Alpha or Omega children, and the Omegas that were left flocked to the real power of an Alpha. When Two finally trusted Ruby enough to tell her that Cas was an Omega living as a Beta, her reaction was genuine confusion rather than surprise. In Ruby's eyes, Omegas would curl up and die without the support of a strong Alpha, and choosing to live without a collar around his throat was Cas resigning to a lonely, terrible life. She saw things in the black and white picture their society painted, never stopping to think that Cas might have independent thoughts. He never wanted to attach himself to an Alpha, nor did he ever feel the need to be told what to do and how to do it. A certain freedom came with pretending to be a Beta, but his lie could end tonight thanks to Ruby and her big, fat mouth.

She's invited the wolves to dinner, and who knows what they'll do to him if they find out-

"I'm going to a hotel." Cas decides. "Have fun with the Alphas."

Ruby groans. "God, stop hiding behind what you are!"

He narrows his eyes. "Excuse me?"

"You've been using the fact that you're an Omega to push people away for years Castiel. Seriously, when are you going to put on your big girl pants and find someone who cares about you?" She cocks her head to one side.

Cas scoffs indignantly. "I do not push people away!"

"When's the last time you dated someone, huh? And I'm not talking about a regular fuck every other weekend, I'm talking about serious dating. You've deluded yourself into thinking that you're better off alone and whenever someone gets close to that icy heart of yours, it's always the same 'I'm a helpless Omega' bullshit!"

Heat floods to Cas' face. He digs his nails into the soft flesh of his palm to make sure that he's not dreaming. Is Ruby, the bitchest of all bitches, attempting to give him a lesson in love? No. Even worse, she's telling him that he's cold and scared of anything that even feels like a relationship. 

"Are you saying I freeze people out?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. You can't be a miserable bastard for your entire life."

She's completely wrong, of course. Cas had been in relationships before, just nothing that'd felt right. It had all rung a bit hollow, and excuse him for having standards... But when RH1 became an epidemic five years ago and Omegas started dropping like flies, dating wasn't Cas' number one priority anymore. He had other things to worry about, like making sure he wasn't brutalized by any and every Alpha within a twenty mile radius. 

So what if he hadn't come close to dating anyone in the last few years? He had other things to think about and love placed a little bit below 'not dying' on his to-do list.

"Who says I'm miserable? I'm not miserable!" Cas folds his arms over his chest. "Or lonely." He adds.

"Well you wouldn't know, now would you?" Ruby raises an eyebrow. 

"Not that it matters, but maybe I don't want to be collared to anyone! God forbid I want to have a life that's mine-"

"Nice life plan Castiel, tell me, do you want your spinster card now or later?"

Cas feels the muscles in his shoulders tense reflexively as he reminds himself that Two would disown him if he performed some kind of American Psycho style dismemberment on her mate. Instead, Cas presses his lips into a thin line and heads upstairs to throw some clothes into a duffle. 

Ruby opens her mouth to speak, but she's cut off by the sound of a car rolling into the driveway. Cas freezes, his right foot resting on the first step.

Oh, great.

Two's eyes widen with concern, "Ten minutes." Ruby says, hopping off the counter and edging toward the front door. "Just give them ten minutes and if you feel like they know something's up then I'll drive you to a hotel myself. Deal?"

Cas looks at Two, who's distracted herself by checking her hair for split ends. Two might not like the way Ruby trudges ahead without thinking, but she won't start a fight unless she knows Cas is in real danger. That's the thing with mated Betas: there's never a clear cut winner. Two let Ruby have her way a good portion of the time, but in those few instances where she stood up for herself, Ruby stepped back and played the submissive role. 

"Come on," Ruby says. "Have a little fun."

Cas considers going upstairs and packing his things anyway. But what harm could ten minutes do? He'd already gotten a bit tipsy and had sex with Dean, if the Alpha hadn't figured it out then, he certainly won't be able to tell while they're fully clothed.

He looks to Ruby, his nostrils flared. "Why should I?"

"So you can prove that you don't have ice running through those veins! I thought the satisfaction of me being wrong would be motivation enough."

Ruby holds out her hand and wiggles her long fingers expectantly. Cas briefly considers calling her childish and going to a hotel to play it safe, then he pictures the weeks of gloating he's sure will come his way if he backs down. With a surge of adrenaline, he takes Ruby's hand and gives it two hard shakes.

"Deal."

 

***

 

"You're really not gonna go in?" Sam asks.

Dean shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He's been going back and forth with himself on whether or not he'd actually go into the house for nearly the entire drive. When he pulled into the driveway, he'd decided that he was going to go back to the hotel and let Sam have his romp with the Rubys. His brother would have his fun, they'd leave after the long weekend and Dean could finally shake this clingy-whatever that had him feeling more Omega than Alpha.

His brow furrows. "Nah, you go ahead."

Sam laughs and unfurls his giraffe-legs, launching himself out of the Impala like he's got springs attached to his ass. Dean watches his brother practically skip to the cabin's front door and feels happiness swell in his chest for what must be the first time in ages. He knew Sam didn't want to hunt forever; he wasn't a lifer like Dean. Sam may have been raised to be a hunter, but he only ever craved a life that wasn't as rootless as their own. He wanted a home, and relationships that lasted for more than a week at a time. Not like those were unreasonable things to want, any sane person would want the same things, but Dean had tried the domestic thing once. Lisa was an Alpha with a kid, and things were nice for a while, but the other shoe dropped when they started snapping at each other the way that confined Alphas always do. Whether she'd kicked him out or he'd stormed out first depends on who you ask, but the one thing Dean knows for sure is that the idea of the suburbs, a white picket fence and two point five kids makes his skin crawl. 

"You can come inside, you know."

The sound nearly stops Dean's heart and before he realizes what he's doing, his hand is on the spare gun he keeps stashed beneath the driver's seat. It's only when he meets Cas' baby blues that his finger edges away from the trigger. 

"Jumpy?" Cas asks, resting his forearms along the open window and leaning forward.

A hint of bourbon wafts toward Dean as he curls his index finger back into the palm of his hand. "You could say that."

"You're not leaving, are you?"

He takes a breath. "I figured things would get a little tense if I just showed up on your doorstep."

"Do you want to stay for the weekend?"

Yes.

Dean lifts an eyebrow. "Do you want me to stay?"

Cas rolls his eyes and bites his bottom lip in a way that makes Dean want to kiss him again. "Come on," he straightens his spine. "Come inside, we'll have tea."

There has never been an instance in Dean Winchester's life where he's even considered tea as a viable drink. Dean was raised on soda and beer; tea ran in the same vein as arsenic and bleach as far as he was concerned. But instead of being a smart ass about it, Dean nods and gets out of the car. 

"Two, Ruby and Sam went upstairs." Cas says, pushing open the the front door. "Can't say I'm surprised."

"Two?"

"Brunette Ruby," he laughs. "It's how everyone keeps track of them because just saying 'Ruby' causes chaos."

"I'll keep that in mind." Dean breathes.

"Here," Cas closes the door behind him. "I'll take your jacket."

Dean shrugs out of the coat and hands it off to Cas who hangs it on a wooden hook by the door. From what Dean can tell, "the cabin" is more like a house than what he pictured. Less of a hunting lodge and more like a home away from home. 

He follows Cas through the living room and into his kitchen, sitting down at the table as Cas rifles around in the cabinets for a mug. As he reaches onto a higher shelf, his shirt rises above the top of his jeans and Dean catches a glimpse of Cas' hip. It's still a bit pink, and Dean remembers that it was only an hour ago that he was gripping Cas' sides like they belonged to him.

Only now, it feels like it's been ages.

"So were you and your brother in town visiting someone? Or..."

Dean clears his throat and drags his eyes upward. "Something like that. We had some business to take care of in Phoenix and on our way out of state, Sam ran into Ruby, she invited him to the barn party and the rest is..." He gestures at the air above their heads, not wanting to mention what Sam and the Rubys are doing. Something that doesn't require clothing, he's sure.

"Oh that's right," Cas smirks, placing a kettle of water over the stove's eye. "She picked your brother up at our favorite place."

"You guys got a thing for dusty diners?"

"Jo's is not dusty! It's got character!" He smiles and slides a mug across the worn wood. "You're not from here, you don't get it, everyone loves Jo's."

"So I was at Carefree, Arizona's favorite eatery and all I got was a coffee?"

"Go for the pancakes next time." Cas angles his chair in Dean's direction and sits down. "They're life changing."

Dean doesn't respond, letting the sound of simmering water permeate the empty air instead. He wants to say something, but his mind goes blank as he realizes this is the first time he's actually seeing Cas in light that isn't supplied by the moon. Underneath the kitchen's artificial light, Dean notices a dimple at the center of Cas' chin and sees the way his eyebrows knit together and point downward when he's thinking about something. If not for the innocence behind his eyes, Dean would assume Cas was just another dickhead with a serious chip on his shoulder. But no matter how many different ways Cas creased his forehead, or turned the corners of his mouth down, it would always be his eyes that gave him away. Dean watches Cas drag his thumb back and forth over his plump bottom lip and Dean finds himself wondering what would happen if he just lunged forward and kissed him.

Would Cas pull away? 

Would he kiss back?

Would it ease the tight feeling in Dean's stomach?

"He's a good guy, right?"

Dean blinks a few times, hoping it'd help erase the image of Cas' mouth that'd seared itself into his brain. 

It doesn't. 

"Hmmm?" He hums, trying and failing to remember what the question was.

"Your brother, Sam. I'm not going to have to chase him out of town with a shotgun for making my sister cry, am I?" 

Dean's eyebrows shoot up in amusement. "Sammy? Nah, he's not the type." He laughs. "Like his body, my brother's heart is three times regulation size."

Cas smiles and shifts forward onto his elbows. "Good. Because my family and I aren't known for thinking things through," his clear blue eyes seem to darken for the briefest of moments before he continues. "And it's a really easy way to get hurt."

"But sometimes things happen," Dean smirks. "And you end up on the hood of a stranger's car..."

Cas' laughs, his hand flying to cover his face, "I think you should know that I don't just go around having vehicular sex with people I don't know. Like I said, Novaks aren't thinkers!" His cheeks turn bright pink and he peers at Dean through the empty space between his fingers.

"And now we have an entire weekend together to mull it over."

Cas lowers his hand and tugs at his bottom lip with his teeth. 

Why the subtle action makes him want to pounce on Cas, Dean will never know. The only thing he knows for sure is that every time Cas chews on his lip out of nervousness, boredom or whatever, it makes Dean want to kiss him. Suddenly, all he can think about is getting Cas beneath him and coaxing a few loud moans out of him. 

"Are you upset that you're not halfway across the country by now?" 

Dean considers answering the question, honestly he does. The polite conversation he's been engaging in for the past ten minutes could go on all night if he lets it. They could discuss their families, life goals, and even stumble into a discussion about what Dean really does for a living. But he says nothing. 

Instead, he stands up and moves to the opposite end of the table.

"What are you doing?" Cas asks.

There's a trace of amusement in his voice, but it's nearly overshadowed by the...fear? No - suspicion, that seems to be racing through his veins like a poison. He tenses his muscles and leans against the back of the chair, in case things go south and he needs to make a quick escape. His eyes dart to the half-boiling pot of water, then back to Dean. 

They stare at each other for a while, Cas waiting for Dean to make a move. Had the haze of lust cleared and the sudden realization that Cas is an Omega crossed Dean's mind? Is he going to die the way all his Omega friends died, beneath the grip of an Alpha? Cas is thinking five moves ahead, playing a sick combination of chess and Russian roulette with his own life. It's all very... exhilarating. And terrifying.

Is sex with an Alpha like doing drugs? 

But before Cas can consider the pros and cons of sex addiction, Dean's mouth is attached to his. Though a bit of a shock, the kiss isn't entirely unwelcome. Despite Cas' morbid thoughts, Dean's kiss is surprisingly soft, and a bit restrained. He fingers the collar of Cas' shirt like he could rip it off, but doesn't want to steamroll over any boundaries their last encounter may have left in tact. Almost like he's deliberately shutting off the aggression that makes him an Alpha.

Interesting.

It's when Dean pulls away and runs his hand through Cas' ruffled hair, that Cas realizes he's been doing more psychoanalyzing than kissing. Dean's eyes scan Cas' face for a reaction. Any reaction.

Now it's Cas' turn to say nothing. 

"You really shouldn't do that." Dean says, his breath coming out in labored huffs.

"Do-" Cas' voice cracks, unsure and nearly unrecognizable. "Do what?"

"Bite your lip like that. It's distracting."

Cas gives Dean a knowing smirk. He looks at Dean, whose upper half has curled forward, blocking the light from the ceiling fixture, engulfing Cas in his shadow. "It's a habit." He says.

"I'll just have to break it then, won't I?" Dean runs his thumb across Cas' cheek and leans forward to kiss him again.

Cas raises his chin defiantly, turning his cheek into the palm of Dean's hand. "There's something you should know."

"And what's that?" Dean punctuates each word with warm kisses down the right side of his face. 

"I don't like being told what to do." He murmurs against the heel of Dean's palm. His hands smell faintly of leather and cheap soap, and somehow, it seems to fit him. Cas pulls at Dean's wrist and kisses the tips of his fingers. "Never have, never will."

"Hmmm." Dean hums as Cas nips at his skin. 

"What?"

"You're not like other Betas, are you?" He smirks.

Cas knows he should pull himself together and walk away, but it's like he can't help but want to talk back. The Alpha hadn't shown himself to be the least bit dangerous, and Cas gets a sick kind of pleasure out of egging him on. 

If this is what Ruby meant when she'd said to "have a little fun," Cas doesn't know, but he honestly doesn't care. There's something about this guy, this Alpha, that piques his interest and makes him want to know more. Cas might not act like every other Beta, but it's only because Dean doesn't act like every other Alpha.

"Did you expect me to get on my knees just because you're an Alpha? To worship at the alter of your massive..." Cas bites the tip of Dean's finger, harder than before. "Ego?"

Dean pulls his hand away from Cas' mouth, and kneels down, his middle settling in between Cas' knees. "Are you saying that I'm arrogant?"

Cas' heart thumps so loudly, he can almost hear it in his ears. "I think it's easy for Alphas to get greedy. Especially when there's no one around to tell them no."

Dean gives a noncommittal nod and slides his hands up Cas' thighs. If he was actually listening, Cas couldn't say, but whether or not Dean was paying attention was quickly becoming irrelevant. Cas shifts in the chair as he feels his dick push against the zipper of his jeans. 

Dean reaches for the button to Cas' pants. "Are you telling me no?" 

"No," their eyes meet and lust flickers behind Dean's gaze. Cas resists rolling his hips into the Alpha's face, and pushes his hand away from his thigh. "I'm telling you that we should go to bed." He whispers, breathlessly. 

"Should we?" A cocky smile spreads across Dean's face as he reaches for Cas' thigh once again.

Cas swats him away. "You get the couch."

Cas nods his head to the living room and Dean looks at him, his green eyes wide in disbelief. "You're serious?" He asks.

"Very." Cas rises to his feet, leaving Dean behind, still on his knees. "I have somewhere I want to take you tomorrow, and I can't do that if I've tired you out, now can I?"

Dean laughs and shifts himself backward so that his butt rests on the heels of his feet. "I'd like to see you try." He smiles.

"Not tonight." Cas teases, turning off the stove and pouring what's left of the boiling water down the drain. 

Dean pushes himself off of his knees and looks at Cas. "Is this a power play?" 

"A what?" Cas raises his eyebrows.

"A power play." He repeats. "You're establishing dominance by sending me to sleep on the couch. Like an Alpha-"

"I'm no Alpha." Cas shakes his head slowly.

"But you're more than just a Beta, aren't you?"

Dean watches Cas carefully. As if he's been trying to figure him out for years and hasn't managed it yet. Cas lets his gaze linger for a few moments before he finally clears his throat and glances away. God, he's going to have to get it together if he's going to be spending the next three days with this guy. He's supposed to be playing a Beta for the holiday weekend, not confusing the shit out of everyone.

"Do you need a blanket?" He says, his voice rough.

"Nah," Dean shrugs his muscled shoulders. "I run hot."

Cas shifts his weight back and forth, trying to decide if he should say anything else or just run upstairs to rid himself of that lusty look in Dean's eyes. He's leaning toward the latter when Dean steps forward and gives him a gentle kiss on the lips. As Dean goes to wrap his arms around Cas' waist, Cas pulls away so fast, you'd think he'd touched a hot stove.

"Goodnight." 

Cas rushes the word, backing away from Dean before he can reach out and pull him into another kiss that Cas can't guarantee he'll have enough willpower to turn away from. As Cas takes the stairs to his bedroom two at a time, he thinks he hears Dean say, "Goodnight Castiel," but he can't be certain.


	3. The Violet Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that took longer than expected...
> 
> Anyway, here's some plot!!

Cas is barely awake when he hears his bedroom door creak open. He isn't sure what time it is, but his body is telling him that it's much too early to be awake. Not that he'd been sleeping anyway... All night, sleep seemed to be just beyond his reach, and after hours and hours of nothing, Cas had just given up. 

And on this, the fifth day in a row of Cas not being able to fall asleep, his patience is little more than paper-thin. An early morning visitor is the last thing he needs. His fingers wrap around the seam of the pillow beneath his head, ready to whip it in the general direction of the intruder when he hears Two's soft voice. 

"Cas?" She whispers, giving his foot a gentle shake. 

His fingers relax. "Hmmm?" He grumbles. 

"Want to talk for a minute?"

Cas feels the bed sink at the left corner as his sister settles herself near his toes. Two asking if he wanted to speak to her for a minute wasn't so much a question as it was a friendly warning that they were about to have a conversation whether he wanted to or not. Cas rolls onto his back, keeping eyes closed in hopes that this conversation will be a sprint, not a marathon. Brevity is all he can hope for from his sister so he can at least go back to not sleeping in silence within the next five minutes. 

"I see the Alpha's still here." She begins slowly. 

"Yup."

"So, everything went okay last night?"

Cas licks his lips in preparation for a bit more than a single word answer. "Considering I'm still alive and he doesn't know about my condition, I'd say last night went swimmingly." He throws his forearm over his closed eyes, attempting to stave off the daylight streaming in through the window above his bed. 

It doesn't work. 

"So, you think he's going to stay for the entire weekend?" Two presses. 

Cas' arm falls to his side as he pries one bleary blue eye open to look at his sister. Her post-sex hair is pulled up into a high ponytail and the Arizona State University sweatshirt she'd stolen from him years ago bares the permanently tan skin of her left shoulder. She looks at him expectantly, and for anyone who didn't know Two as well as Cas knew Two, her gaze would be completely innocent -- instead of fraught with nervous energy. 

"Why are you so interested?" He asks, ignoring the sunlight currently sizzling his retinas. 

In any other situation, Cas wouldn't question his sister's motivations for asking about Dean -- he is an Alpha after all, and very hazardous to Cas' health, but Sam's presence at the house changes things. If Cas boots Dean out on his ass today, there's a good chance Sam will follow. 

"You're worried Sam's gonna leave." He smirks knowingly. 

She starts to roll her eyes, but catches herself. "I'm worried that you're letting Dean stay because you're listening to Ruby and not your gut." Cas raises his eyebrows in disbelief. Two's cheeks go pink and she caves immediately. "And I'm worried that Sam's gonna leave."

Cas rolls over onto his elbow. "First of all, Ruby isn't pressuring me into letting Dean stay. I let him stay, on the couch if you hadn't noticed, because I think I like him..." 

Two's shoulders straighten. "Really?" She asks. 

"It's kind of like his Alpha thing is way more subtle than everyone else's. Like he doesn't have to assert his dominance all time. And I don't think I want him to leave just yet..."

The words come slowly and Cas even surprises himself as they leave his mouth. Letting the Alpha sleep on his living room couch is completely different from actually admitting to another person that he didn't want to send Dean away in the first place. He hadn't felt jittery about the prospect of someone new in a long time, and the only thing keeping Cas from running downstairs and into the Alpha's arms is just that; he's an Alpha. And Cas is a little Omega liar. 

"Be careful, okay?" Two stands up to leave. "And take your suppressants." 

Cas narrows his eyes at his sister. "It's creepy how you know-" 

"What you're thinking as you're thinking it?"

He shakes his head. "Okay, you need to stop that. Seriously, it's weird." 

"This is good for you. Different, but good. I never would've pictured you with an Alpha, but hey, shit happens." Two says. "You don't think he knows, do you?"

Cas raises and drops his shoulders slowly. "God, I hope not. I really want to make it through this weekend without an incident. I'm just going to keep taking the pills like I do every day twice a day and if he looks like he knows something's up, then I'm just going to have to catch a very violent, very contagious stomach virus. Weekend's over, got it?" 

"Just say the word and everyone is outta here." She nods and twists the doorknob. 

"Oh, you're not about to leave." Cas says, pushing himself up to rest against his headboard. "You came in my room at the ass crack of dawn to ask me about Dean, now I want to know about Sam. It's only fair." 

Two shifts her weight from left to right and back again, as if trying to decide whether or not she should tell her brother about her night. But they'd never had that kind of relationship. They were always painfully open with each other, and Two was likely trying to decide which gory details to leave out. 

After a minute, she settles on a breathy, "He's amazing, Cas." 

Cas drops his head in a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. "Really Two? You and Ruby spent eight uninterrupted hours with this guy and all I get is that he's amazing?" He frowns. 

She shrugs and leans against the closed door, a dazed look in her eyes. "I don't know!" 

"He was that good in bed, huh?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. 

"No..." Two begins, but quickly rephrases. "I mean, don't get me wrong, the sex was fantastic. Like mind blowing, but how do you explain a connection? Cas, it's not like we were exchanging life stories last night, there's just this...something between us and it was intense. Ruby felt it too. And after, when we were all just lying there kinda tangled up in each other, it was like something clicked into place. It was just right, you know?" 

"Hmmm." Cas says. 

"I sound crazy, don't I?" Two asks, pressing her forehead into the palm of her hand. "Like stalker crazy." 

"Crazy wasn't the first word I landed on. Honestly, it sounds like true love to me!" Cas laughs. 

Two opens her mouth and pretends to gag at his mention of the L-Word. "Castiel!"

"Okay, take it easy, Linda Blair." Cas grimaces. "You're the one talking about connecting with him and things being so 'right,' I'm only looking at the bigger picture here. And when you come crawling back into my bedroom on Monday morning to tell me that I was right and that you'd prefer it if Sam never left because his love lifts you up where you belong, the least you can do is bring coffee." 

Two folds her arms over her chest. "Ah, speaking of being right... You know Ruby's never going to let you live down letting Dean stay the night, don't you?" 

Cas' happiness drains out of him so fast it makes his stomach hurt as he remembers his deal with the devil. He briefly considers keeping the conversation focused on the Rubys and their impending love for Sam, but he has to come to terms with his loss sooner or later. Might as well start now. 

"I know," he groans. "And I'd thank you if you didn't join in on the gloating. Ruby being right is punishment enough, trust me." 

"Fine," Two says airily. "But you may want to enjoy the few blessed moments of silence you have left. Might I suggest staring longingly at the very attractive Alpha you forced to sleep on that uncomfortable couch last night?" 

Cas slides back down onto his mattress, hand covering his eyes in embarrassment that his sister will never register. "Two, you are so fucking weird! Why were you watching him sleep?!" 

She holds her hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, I was looking for you! It's not my fault he sleeps shirtless, and I'm not made of stone you know!" 

"Get out of my room!" He laughs, turning his face into the cool pillow. "Out!"

 

***

 

That morning, Dean wakes to a strange clicking and whirring sound. Out of habit, he reaches beneath his head for the nine millimeter he usually keeps stashed under his pillow. But when his fingers don't brush anything but air, a jolt of panic shoots through him.

_Sammy._

He cracks open one eye, ready to launch himself onto the intruder, and finds himself staring directly into the lens of a pretty expensive-looking camera. 

Right. 

Sam's fine and Dean remembers that he didn't sleep on a bed in some random motel room. He'd spent the night on Cas' couch, in a deep sleep that contained nothing but dreams about the mouthy Beta. The details start to blur together in Dean's mind, but in the light of day, the real thing looks so much better. Dean breathes deeply and rolls onto his back, wincing as a wayward spring twists its way into the already sore muscles of his shoulder. 

"What's going on?" He asks, his voice deeper and rougher than usual.

Cas' teeth pull at his lower lip and Dean swears he feels his cheeks go a bit red. "Sorry," Cas says, moving the camera away from his face. "I have to take a picture of everyone who passes over that threshold. It's a rule."

"He got me earlier." Sam's disembodied voice floats across the living room. 

Dean thrusts his chin toward the ceiling as he realizes that he must be the last one in the house to wake up. He hasn't been a heavy sleeper since he was a kid and Sam hadn't beaten him out of bed since before he'd left for Stanford... Christ, either Dean was losing his edge or everyone had been sneaking around the house since sunrise, intentionally trying not to wake him. 

He props himself up on the couch and sees Sam at the kitchen table sitting next to blond Ruby while brunette Ruby is poised over the kitchen sink, scrutinizing something just outside the window. Sam twirls an apple in hand and smiles, looking at Dean like he knows something his brother doesn't. It's unnerving to say the least. 

Dean runs his hands over his face, rubbing at his tired eyes. "Everyone getting an early start?" He mumbles into his palm.

Cas tilts his head and tosses Dean his balled up t-shirt. The wad of fabric smacks Dean in the face, briefly clinging to his hair before slipping off and pooling into a black heap at his bare feet. Dean remains unfazed. 

"It's eight o'clock in morning." Cas says matter-of-factly. He plops down on the couch next to the Alpha. "And we're getting an early start because I told you, I want to take you somewhere. "

Dean rolls his aching shoulder and deadpans, "Oh, you were serious."

"I was very serious," Cas corrects. "You can use the guest bathroom upstairs."

Cas isn't asking if Dean wants to go to wherever he's taking them, so much as telling him that they're going and he'd better get with the program. The edges of Dean's mouth angle themselves upward in an accidental smirk. He snatches his rumpled shirt up off the floor and pushes himself off of the couch before anyone can get a good look. Toned down or not, he's still an Alpha damn it; and being an Alpha comes with certain obligations, like not smiling after a Beta tells you how you'll be spending the day. His reaction was definitely not a very Alpha thing to do, but Dean brushes it off as a consequence of Cas' hypnotic baby blues. I mean, he can't exactly look into them and frown, now can he? Cas and his eyes just aren't playing fair.

Dean gestures to the front door. "I've gotta go-"

He barely has enough time to form the end of the sentence in his mind before Sam excitedly jumps in. "Brought your bag in with my stuff." He says with an irritating little smile and gestures next to the couch with the point of a paring knife. 

Sure enough, there sits Dean's worn down duffle bag, battered and a bit torn from life on the road, looking severely out of place in Cas' clean, shiny living room. Dean swallows his standard smart ass comment and picks up his trusty duffle, making a mental note to smack his brother in the back of the head as soon as the opportunity presents itself. He grunts his thanks in Sam's general direction and hauls himself upstairs to take a shower. 

 

***

 

"So I heard you had a good time last night Castiel." 

Cas' jaw reflexively stiffens as he shifts to face her from his spot on the living room couch. "Starting already, Ruby?"

She balances her chin on her inner forearm and looks at Cas through a veil of blond hair. "I'm just pointing out that you may have experienced the longest ten minutes in human history. Either that, or you may have actually enjoyed yourself." She watches him intently, waiting for his calm facade to crack and reveal how frustrated he is. 

"I did." Cas concedes. 

"Well shit," Ruby smiles to cover her disappointment. "That was almost too easy. I thought you'd put up more of a fight. You know, the whole deny, deny, deny routine? You're really putting a damper on my bragging Castiel." 

_Good._

He smirks. "Sorry to ruin your fun with my honesty." 

Sam looks from Ruby to Cas. "What are you two talking about?" 

Cas raises his eyebrows at Ruby. He certainly won't be telling Sam that they'd made a bet to see how long he'd last with Dean last night. Dealing with one Alpha is stressful enough, the last thing Cas needs is the Alpha Two and Ruby brought home asking questions. 

"Don't worry about it, baby." Ruby coos, reaching out to run her hand through his shoulder-length locks. 

It's a sweet gesture until Sam's muscles tense, and he jerks his head out of the Beta's reach. Cas watches in silent shock as Ruby practically shrivels under Sam's chastising look. Rejected, she silently lowers her hand without so much as a teasing smile and goes back to resting her chin on her arm. 

_What the fuck?_

In the seven years he'd known her, Cas had never seen Ruby back away from a challenge -- even a challenge from an Alpha. And Sam pulling away from her was most definitely a challenge in dominance. Apparently Sam played by the old school rules of Alphas giving permission for their mates -- or whoever -- to touch them. But Sam's observance of the rule isn't what nags at Cas. It's Ruby. A girl Cas had seen pick up a baseball bat and chase after an Alpha who'd threatened Two, didn't even put up a fight. She didn't even question Sam. She just... backed down. 

_Odd._

"Oh no," Two says from the window, having missed the entire exchange between the Alpha and her mate. She sighs, "I think Beast got into the flowers again." 

Cas perks up, forgetting about Ruby's magically disappearing backbone. "What?!" He shouts, leaping to his feet and making a beeline for the front door. 

Two spins around as if suddenly remembering she wasn't speaking into an empty room. "Castiel, don't!" She pleads holding up her hands. "It's not that big of a deal. We'll replant the flowers like we always do." 

He feels his throat constrict in anger. "No Ruby, we won't!" 

When Cas whips open the door and storms across his lawn, straight to his neighbor's front door, his blood is boiling. Cas' fist beats at the sturdy wood so hard, he feels a steady pulsing in his hand afterward. 

He and Two had planted two rows of bright gold poppies along the front and down the sides of the house twice now. And both times, their neighbor's great dane, Beast, made it his business to tear up the flowers by their roots and shred their petals.

More knocking. 

Cas may have been reimbursed for the damage, but he'll be damned if he keeps planting flowers for that dog to use as chew toys every couple weeks. 

Cas is seriously considering putting his boot to the door when he hears the handle rattle, then feels a burst of cool, conditioned air hit his face. 

"Castiel, what are you doing here?"

He sounds surprised. Which does nothing to temper Cas' rage. 

"What am I doing here? Crowley, your fucking dog is tearing up my flowers... Again! At this point, you and your English accent have apologized more times than I care to remember. And yet, here we are." 

Crowley doesn't respond, only providing Cas with a bored, vacant stare. The kind you give to someone who's attempting to get a rise out of you by yelling irrational things and trying to force you to participate in their stupidity by getting you to yell back. It's the kind of unresponsive look you give a petulant child and it only served to piss Cas off even further. 

"So what are you going to do about your animal?" He continues. "Because I certainly have a few ideas."

Crowley purses his lips and shoves his hands in his pants pockets. "What can I say? He's not called Beast for no reason." 

Cas nods absently and rubs at his forehead in agitation. "It feels like you think I'm not completely serious." 

He shrugs, leaning against the open door. "I'm sorry. It's just a little hard to take you seriously." He smiles and lowers his voice as if anyone else was listening. "I mean, you're an Omega, Castiel; and as an Alpha, you attempting to tell me how I should control Beast is laughable." Cas rolls his eyes. "I don't respond well to threats." Crowley says, annunciating every word. 

Cas straightens his spine and squares his shoulders. "I'm not threatening you. I'm promising that if you don't get your little hell hound under control, I'm sure your wife would love to have him full time. Unlike you, she answers my phone calls. Not to mention, Beast actually listens to her." 

Crowley grinds his teeth. "Ex-wife." He grumbles at the ground. 

The only thing that ever seemed to cause Crowley the least bit of stress was the fact that Beast liked his wife more than he liked him. Not the biggest problem in the world, but it's certainly enough to send a control freak like Crowley off the deep end. 

"And as for my status as an Omega, mention it to anyone and I swear to god Fergus, I'll make sure the next flowers I plant are poisonous."

Cas doesn't wait for Crowley to respond, in fact, he's back on the sidewalk when the Alpha finds his voice again. "Castiel!" He calls. "Tell her I said hello, yeah?" 

"Call your wife, Crowley!" Cas calls from his doorway. "And keep your damned dog out of my yard!" 

 

***

 

Dean is in the midst of fastening his jeans when he hears the front door slam shut followed by the sound of frustrated voices. If he had to guess, he'd say he'd only been in the shower for ten minutes. What could've happened while he was washing his hair that would warrant shouting and door slamming? He pulls a steel grey t-shirt over his head, half listening to the conversation, just in case he needs to race into the living room, guns blazing. 

"What is he doing?" One of he Rubys asks. 

"Something stupid." The other answers. 

Silence. 

"What. An. Idiot."

_Well, Sam certainly chose an interesting group of Betas to stay with for the weekend,_ Dean thinks. Blond Ruby is obviously the outspoken one, probably getting the three into trouble more often than not, and brunette Ruby comes off as the mousy, girl next door type. Quiet, non-threatening-

At least until it came to Cas. The protective older sister glare she gave Dean last night when she discovered them by the Impala lets him know that for the most part, brunette Ruby is a faker. She only looks like the quiet one because her mate is louder, more sarcastic and all around more abrasive. Dean would even go as far as to say that by herself, she probably has a bit of a personality. 

Of course, none of this is surprising. Sam may have been in need of some affection last night, but even at his most desperate, he would never ever go for women that could be categorized so easily as 'the bitch' and 'the wallflower.' 

"What's been up with him lately?"

"Oh god," Dean hears one of the Rubys say. "Has Cas lost his mind a little?" 

_Cas._

The only reason Dean had been invited to join Sam and his not-so-easily-labeled-Betas. Now that he thinks about it, Cas isn't that easy to pin down either. He's impulsive -- sex with a stranger on top of his car -- and then not -- relegating said stranger to the couch for the night. Dean wouldn't exactly call it finicky, but it does pique his interest as to what Cas might do next. 

Hell, going by the half conversation he'd heard, Cas was outside doing something reckless right now. It sends a surge of excitement straight to Dean's dick. 

He bites down on his bottom lip. Hard. "Cool it." He grumbles, readjusting himself in his jeans. 

_This is about to be a long day._

Dean roots through his bag for toothpaste and is only met with disappointment when his fingers grip a comically flat plastic tube. He unscrews the cap and silently prays for a small miracle in the form of a dollop of toothpaste, as he attempts to maneuver the last bits of Crest out of its container. 

All he manages to squeeze out is a puff of minty fresh air. 

Dean huffs and tosses the tube in the wastebasket. And while he doesn't necessarily want to rifle through his host's bathroom, he also doesn't want to go downstairs with his offensive morning breath. _I don't have a choice,_ he reasons and pulls open the mirror that doubles as a medicine cabinet, scanning the two shelves inside. 

As expected, it looks like your standard, every day medicine cabinet. A bottle of Aspirin here, a jar of some kind of girly, all-natural moisturizer there. It had everything a normal bathroom should... Except a tube of toothpaste. 

"Oh, come on." He groans, closing the cabinet and opting to dig through the drawers instead. 

Nothing. 

As Dean comes to terms with the idea of facing Cas with his hand positioned over his mouth, he hears a familiar set of footsteps coming down the hallway. 

"Oh good, you're here." Dean says, intercepting Sam in the middle of the hall, blocking his path to wherever he's heading. His stance is desperate, and his voice pleading. "Toothpaste." He says. 

"The squeeze 'n pray method finally stopped working, huh?" Sam smiles. Dean rolls his eyes in a practiced 'sick of your shit' way, and follows Sam into the room he'd shared with the Rubys the night before. 

Dean leans against the door frame and folds his arms. "Hey, I don't need a lecture. Just hand it over, bitch."

"You okay?" Sam asks, back turned to his brother as he gropes around in a side pocket of his own beaten up duffle. 

Dean shrugs. "Well I'd like to brush my teeth today, so if you could hurry your ass up..." 

"You know what I mean, jackass. Are you okay staying here for the weekend?"

"I'm fine." Dean says, curling his toes into the Rubys' thick, plum-colored carpet. "Why?" 

"Because last night you looked like you might have an anxiety attack trying to decide if you wanted to come into the house."

Dean takes a deep breath. "Well I'm here, aren't I? Inside the house, not panicking. Looking normal..." 

Sam straightens up and looks at Dean with that worried expression that always goes straight to his forehead. Dean is convinced the kid is bound to get wrinkles before his thirtieth birthday. 

"What?" he asks, throwing his hands up in defeat. 

If Dean didn't go in the house to socialize with his nearly one night stand, Sam worried. If Dean went in the house, socialized and didn't make a big deal of the whole situation, Sam worried. It's like the whole scenario is a set up to force Sam to give Dean that heartbreaking 'I'm concerned for my big brudder' look. 

"You're acting weird." Sam says, his eyes narrowing. 

"Dude, I'm not the one who called it a night with not one, but two Betas..." Dean smiles, then pauses for a moment. "Which is weird for me, now that you mention it. Are you sure _you're_ okay?"

Sam gives him a frustrated look. "That's not what I'm talking about." 

"Sammy, I don't know what you're talking about, and regardless, I don't want to talk about what you're talking about. I want to talk about what I'm talking about, which is you and the Rubys." Dean leans forward a bit. "So...?" He raises his chin, waiting for an answer. 

Sam opens his mouth -- like he's about to give Dean all the juicy details -- only to close it again. "I can't tell you." He says finally. 

Dean's head jerks back involuntarily. "What? Can't tell me?" He repeats. "What, were you trading nuclear launch codes in here?" 

"I just can't tell you." 

Dean sucks his teeth and shifts back on his heel. "Fine, be like that. But I'll find out, Sam. I have my ways."

"Go brush your teeth." Sam says as he tosses his brother a tube of off brand toothpaste. "Jesus, I feel like I need a hazmat suit to be around you." His face scrunches up in mock disgust. 

Dean snatches the tube out of the air. "Bitch." He murmurs on his way out of the bedroom. 

"Jerk!" Sam calls to him before he's out of earshot. 

As Dean makes his way back to the guest bathroom, his bare foot lands on something small and hard. If the rest of the house had been carpeted like the Rubys' bedroom, Dean wouldn't have noticed, but the hard wood floors don't do him any favors in keeping tiny objects from practically burrowing into the soles of his feet. Dean lifts his leg and sees that a diamond-shaped, white pill has embedded itself into the heel of his left foot. The pill is tiny and non-distinct, probably a baby Aspirin-

"Oh Alpha," Cas singsongs from the bottom of the staircase. "You sure are taking your sweet time up there." 

"Two minutes!"

Dean absently shoves the Aspirin in his pants pocket and rushes off to brush his teeth. Who would've thought that a few teasing words from a Beta would light fire under Dean Winchester's ass?

_God, he's so whipped._


	4. Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you guys ever gotten married and forgotten that you were totally in the middle of writing something?? And then when you went back to writing, autosave failed you and you had to start all over?!  
> Welp, that happened...  
> BUT, I'm back on the horse and writing like crazy!

"Would you just calm the hell down?"  


Two scoffs and pours herself a cup of coffee. "Calm down, he says. It's not that big of a deal, he says."  
"It's not!"  


Two slams her hand onto the counter so hard, the sound reverberates off the walls and makes Ruby's body tense up. Cas thinks his sister is about to start shouting, but when she opens her mouth, her voice doesn't rise above a whisper.  


"You went to Crowley's house, Castiel! You threatened him and that dog he loves so much, and after your whole 'Alphas are crazy killers' speech, I'd think you'd be smarter than that."  


Cas' stomach gives a sickening lurch. "He's not going to kill me." He says. Though he can't be sure if he's trying to convince Two or himself.  


At this point, either would suffice.  


Ruby carefully measures out a teaspoon of sugar and adds it to her own mug of steaming coffee. "Honey, Crowley isn't going to hurt him. Cas is the only connection he's got left to his bitch of an ex wife." She smiles into her cup. "He's probably safer around Crowley than we are."  


Cas rolls his eyes, secretly grateful for the slight shift in conversation. "She's not a bitch, and they're still married."  


"Cas," Two cocks her head to one side, momentarily pushing her anger aside. "Come on, she's kind of a bitch. Or at least she has bitchy tendencies."  


He sighs heavily. "Really? You too?"  


"Hey," Ruby holds up her hands and laughs. "We only speak the truth. And even if Crowley doesn't kill you for getting in his face over a few flowers, you're still a moron for going over there."  


"Cas, are you okay?"  


Two folds her arms over her chest and looks at her brother with big, over-analyzing doe eyes. She's been doing it all morning and Cas doubts there's anything he can say that'll make her stop. Even when his back is turned, he can feel her watching him. It makes his skin itch and only intensifies how on edge he's been feeling since he'd gotten out of bed. Cas opens his mouth to tell the Rubys that he hasn't completely gone off the rails, but both Sam and Dean come jogging down the stairs before he can utter a single syllable. While Sam is still sporting nothing but pajama bottoms, Dean strides over to Cas dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.  


The shower must've done the Alpha some good, because he looks a lot more refreshed than he was about twenty minutes ago. His eyes are a little brighter and Cas swears there's a slight spring in his step.  


"Ready?"  


"Yeah, let's get out of here." Cas says, ushering Dean over the threshold.  


He's halfway out the door and is about to breathe a sigh of relief when he catches sight of Two out of the corner of his eye. She's picking at the fraying hem of her ASU sweatshirt and just as the door swings shut, she looks at Cas and taps the center of her chin twice. An innocent twitch of the hand to anyone else, but a silent warning between brother and sister. The two haven't used the code since they were in high school and Cas barely remembers it, but the double chin tap is a hard one to forget. It's the one they'd used in emergencies, the only one they ever took seriously. The one that meant, "be careful, I've got a bad feeling about this."  


Cas closes the door behind him and chews at the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. Two hardly ever worried about him and she told him to be careful even less than that, so the fact that she'd done both before noon today is enough to make Cas' insides twist painfully. Does he really need to be worried about?  


Sure, confronting Crowley was the craziest thing he'd ever done, and half-threatening to kill the Alpha's gigantic dog definitely made for top five material, but he hasn't lost his good sense. Of course, this morning coupled with the fact that he'd slept with Dean last night did nothing to prove his point. And Cas almost comes to terms with the idea that he might be getting reckless, but just as he does, he brushes it off as a product of his addled and sleep deprived brain. If he could only get more sleep, he could go back to being the cautious prude Ruby knows and hates so much.  


"You okay?" Dean asks.  


Cas looks over and realizes that he's been walking with Dean for at least half a block without saying a word.  


He clears his throat. "Fine."  


"Okay." Dean shoves his hands into the pockets of a leather jacket Cas hadn't even seen him put on. "I don't believe you, but okay."  


"It's not something I can talk about right now."  


"Then let's not talk about it. Let's talk about you instead. Tell me about you."  


"I..." Cas begins. "Am extraordinarily ordinary."  


The Alpha stops dead in his tracks. "Really? What, are we in a bad romantic comedy? You mean to tell me that you and those big baby blues are exceedingly boring? Come on, you've got to do something when you're not out drinking with guys you don't know. What do you love?"  


Cas shrugs, his mind suddenly going blank.  


"Nothing?" Dean presses.  


"Photography." He blurts.  


Dean nods. "Mmhmm. Okay, that's something. Go on."  


Cas takes a breath. "I mostly like to catch people off guard, you know, completing mundane tasks that no one especially cares about? But every now and again I can be talked into doing portraits." A strange look crosses his face and he starts to laugh. "I say portraits, most of the time, they're senior pictures for the high school."  


Dean nods. "No, you're right. That's _really_ boring." He smiles.  


Cas laughs and gently shoves the Alpha, knocking him off balance momentarily. "Don't be a dick."  


"Is your love of photography the reason I woke up with a camera in my face today?"  


Cas nods slightly, embarrassed. "When someone expects you to take a picture, there's always this manufactured happiness; plastered on smiles for the sake of the camera. I don't know, it all just rings a little hollow to me. I caught Sam and then I had to get to you before he said anything about it, otherwise you would've spent the day looking over your shoulder, making sure I didn't try to stick said camera in your face."  


"Probably." Dean admits. "So did they look good? From a purely objective point of view, of course."  


"Honestly? It could've used less natural light. Shadows can create a more dynamic photo, but that's just my opinion." He says.  


Dean nods along and Cas resists giving the Alpha the answer he really wants. "Did they look good" has and will always be code for "did I look good," and while it's a valid question - narcissism is at its highest when photos are being taken - Cas can't be that honest just yet. Even with his new found bravery, he can't tell Dean that he looked nothing short of perfect this morning. Turned on his side, one arm tucked under his head, chest muscles out for the world to see; sexy doesn't even come close to describing it. Because honestly, it wasn't sexy in the traditional sense, it was...  


Something else.  


Something better.  


His hands were all over that last night? My god, and judging by what could've turned into a very naked situation in the kitchen early this morning, all Cas has to do is say the word and they can pick up right where they left off.  


Now _that's_ sexy.  


The thought makes his toes curl.  


Cas allows himself a nanosecond to remember the moment he found out that Dean was an Alpha. How he was terrified, but too tipsy and turned on to care. The hurt look in Dean's eyes once he realized Cas hadn't sniffed him out as an Alpha male among Betas. And especially the way his voice rumbled deep in his chest when he'd told Cas to refer to him as Alpha.  


He can feel his heartbeat in his throat.  


"Look," Dean says. "We're here."  


Oh, they were supposed to be walking somewhere specific weren't they? Now if only Cas can remember where his internal autopilot was supposed to be taking them...  


And suddenly a light bulb goes off in his head.  


_Jo's!_  


Cas had promised Dean a life altering experience and if he could stop thinking of the Alpha and his perfect body for more than a few minutes, he could keep his promise.  


Easier said than done.

***

 _He's so cute when he gets excited,_ Dean thinks. And although he's less than thrilled to be running on five hours of sleep, Dean is slowly starting to come around to being woken up by Cas and treated to breakfast.  


Cas leads Dean through the double doors and over to a booth that sits directly in front of a large plate glass window. They haven't been sitting for more than a minute before they're approached by a young waitress with a beauty mark under her left eye.  


She smiles at Cas, something in her dark brown eyes coming to life when she sees him. "Cas, it's been a while."  


"Four days. Almost a lifetime."  


The waitress laughs and crosses her legs at the ankle. Dean can't help but notice that her back is intentionally angled away from him. As if his half of the table was swallowed up by the void and, as far as she's concerned, no longer exists.  


"We'll take two of the usual." Cas makes brief eye contact with Dean.  


The waitress turns slightly, looking down her nose at the Alpha. "Oh?"  


"Right now." Cas says, his tone clipped. "Thank you."  


Her eye twitches almost imperceptibly before she spins on the balls of her feet and heads to what Dean assumes is the restaurant's kitchen.  


Dean laces and unlaces his fingers. "Is it just me or is it a little chilly in here?"  


"Would you believe me if I told you she's actually a sweet girl? Krissy just doesn't like people she doesn't know. Which is a horrible personality trait for a waitress, I know, but in a small town like this how many non-locals is she going to run into, you know?"  


"No, I get it." Dean says. "It's just a little rough being on the receiving end."  


Cas' eyes seem to do more apologizing than his words ever could, and for a couple seconds, Dean finds himself forgetting that he's the victim. Now, he resents Krissy not for being rude to him, but for forcing Cas to apologize for her rudeness.  


Dean doesn't know why, but he starts to feel a sort of rage bubbling up inside of him. It twists and curls in on itself in the pit of his stomach, like a serpent ready to strike. It makes Dean want to leap up, catch Krissy by the nape of her neck and make her apologize to Cas.  


Because he deserves at least that much...  


"So tell me about you." Cas continues. "I feel like we've been talking about me for ages. Where did you grow up?"  


Dean takes a deep breath and quells his anger with the diner's coffee-scented air. In that moment, he briefly entertains the idea of telling a big, fat lie. The rosy picture he'd paint for himself in this new town, for this Omega could be worlds better than the life he knew. Not that he'd lived the worst life... It just wasn't the norm. After all, how many people in Carefree, Arizona could say they exorcised demons and delt with the disgusting unholiness that was a coven of witches on a near daily basis? After chasing down the thing that killed their mom and then losing their dad, thankfully Sam and Dean hadn't had to deal with anything more complicated than your standard possession for a long while.  


Still, just because he'd been born and bred to hunt the things that went bump in the night, it didn't mean that small town folk were ready for the hard truth.  


He should lie.  


Good sense is telling him to lie.  


He could be from Texas. Dean thinks he could pull off being from Texas. He always thought he had a southern look about him. And he could've been raised by two loving parents who now busied themselves with needlepoint, fishing in the creek behind their house, and iced tea on hot days.  


The names of several southern states dance on the tip of Dean's tongue, but before he can choose one and run with it, the word "Kansas" practically falls out of his mouth.  


_Fuck. Well, so much for creating a shiny new life._  


Cas lifts his eyebrows. "Kansas?" He repeats. "I would've pegged you for more of a southerner. Alabama, maybe? Or a Texan without the accent."  


Dean laughs and rubs his hand across his forehead.  


He should have lied.  


"Close." He says.  


"Not really." Cas scrunches his nose. "But I'm not opposed to Kansas. Were you born there?"  


"Yeah, the both of us were; me and Sammy, but we left when I was four. After that, we were a bit... Bicoastal."  


Dean knows that he's walking the line of truth with Cas, but "bicoastal" seems to be the only way he can explain his childhood. Saying he traveled across the country with his dad and baby brother, searching for the demon that killed his mother isn't exactly a conversation you have over pancakes.  


"And are you still just as..." Cas waves his hand around in the air, looking for the appropriate word.  


"Rootless?" Dean allows himself to chuckle. "Yeah, Sam and I don't spend much time in one place anymore. Price of the job."  


Dean can tell that Cas wants to know more. People don't just pick up and abandon home without a story that follows them for the rest of their lives. He shifts back and forth in his seat, a bundle of nerves, waiting for the inevitable question: 'What do you and Sam do?'  


But it never comes.  


Instead, Cas sighs dreamily and props his chin up on the heel of his hand, "I wish I could travel."  


As Dean contemplates the sparkle in Cas' eye, he sees Krissy headed their way with two plates in her hands.  


"Two specials." She murmurs, setting Cas' plate in front of him.  


Surprisingly, she gives Dean his plate just as gently. In all honesty, he thought she was just going to throw it in his face and saunter off to her other tables. But she gives Dean his food and walks away without another word.  


"Ready to have your life changed?" Cas smiles, leaning forward.  


"It smells pretty life changing." Dean admits.  


He grabs his fork and reaches for the syrup, but stops short when he sees that they don't have a bottle.  


"Syrup." He mumbles.  


"I'll get it." Cas says.  


"No, it's fine, I'll-"  


"No seriously." Cas smirks, getting up from the table. "I've got it."

***

 _Well aren't I the helpful one,_ Cas thinks.  


He'd even surprised himself when he'd leaped up from the table like there were springs attached to his ass. It's just a bottle of syrup, Dean could've gotten it himself, but instead Cas jumped at the opportunity. Literally. And as he walks away, Cas starts to realize just how ridiculous he must've looked.  


At the counter, Cas rests his elbows on the cool surface and balances his knee on a creaky stool, waiting for a waitress to stroll past. Just as he starts to get ancy, Cas hears someone say his name and feels a hand on his lower back.  


"Hey Cas."  


He recoils in disgust when he recognizes the voice.  


"Hello Gabriel." Cas says tersely, shifting out of his reach.  


"Don't tell me that you're still angry at me."  


He wears a shit eating grin that only makes Cas want to throw a punch. The thing you can always count on is for Gabriel to act like a cocky asshole whenever he's around, and after years of acting, he'd managed to boil his entire personality down to a smile.  


"Noooo," Cas' voice oozes sarcasm. "Who could ever be mad at you? You're so... Charming."  


"Don't be like that-"  


Gabriel moves to touch Cas again, but he quickly slaps his hand away.  


"Then give it back." Cas says.  


Gabriel straightens his shoulders and curls his outstretched fingers back into his hand. "I can't do that." He says.  


Gabriel tries his hardest to look apologetic, but after knowing him for so many years, Cas knows that apologetic isn't in his repertoire of emotions. The strained look just comes off as mocking, earning a hearty eye roll from Cas.  


He turns back to the counter. "Then why are we talking?" He sighs.  


"Because I miss you."  


He says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world and Cas is an idiot for not already knowing the answer. Cas can even hear a questioning tone in his voice and he has to bite back a frustrated scream. Gabriel acted as if the last three months hadn't happened, but instead had been a vivid dream in Cas' head.  


"You're a jackass."  


"And you're adorable when you're angry."  


Just as Cas feels his blood start to boil, Jo appears behind the counter looking especially happy; that is, until she sees Gabriel.  


"What are you doing here, Gabe?" She asks, a damp rag hanging from her hand.  


Gabriel gestures to his chest innocently. "What, am I not allowed in here anymore Jo?"  


"You know it's not like that. I just know you don't come in here unless it's with Cas, and since he didn't come with you, why are you here?"  


"Did you come in here with someone else?" Gabriel asks, a hint of jealousy flashing across his features.  


Cas keeps his eyes trained on Jo. "Can I have a bottle of syrup?"  


"Sure honey." She says and jogs to the back.  


"Cas." Gabriel says.  


As much as Cas wants to turn and revel in Gabe's jealousy, he can't.  
/

He won't.  


It'll be like giving away what little power he has over Gabe, and even if it takes Jo a year to get back to him with the syrup, Cas refuses to let Gabriel win.  


Luckily, Jo returns within seconds and Cas thanks her before heading back to his table. He doesn't even acknowledge Gabriel's presence.  


He wouldn't be doing himself any favors by saying goodbye, it's obvious that Gabriel has nothing new to say, so walking away in silence is the only thing left for Cas to do. Three months was a long time to talk in circles and Cas is over having to talk to him about anything.  


"I thought you'd gotten lost." Dean smiles as Cas sets the syrup in front of his plate.  


He gives a halfhearted laugh, sliding into the booth. "It's busy today."  


Dean upends the bottle over his plate and drizzles the sticky syrup over his pancakes. Cas tears at the edge of his syrup-free pancake, suddenly not as hungry as he was when he'd left the house not forty-five minutes ago.  


They'd broken up three months ago, but Gabe can still ruin Cas' mood with a snap of his fingers. And Cas isn't even sure you can refer to what they'd done a few times a week for a year "dating." Regular sex did _not_ mean that they were in a relationship; Cas had to make that point abundantly clear to Gabe all too often and one day, he just snapped and ended it altogether.  


Not technically a break up, but close enough.  


"Alright," Dean concedes around a mouthful of pancakes. "You win. These are really good."  


Cas is all set to give Dean his high and mighty 'told ya so' look, but changes his mind at the last second and gives him a gentle smile instead. "Now you know why everybody loves Jo's."  


"I think I might love Jo's too." Dean says, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.  


Cas leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Well I'm sure you'll be welcomed back here with open arms any time you want to come back."  


Is he flirting? Or at least attempting to flirt?  


Cas hadn't intentionally flirted with anyone in so long, he isn't sure he knows how to do it correctly anymore. Gabe had never required much flirting. All Cas needed to do was send a wink in his general direction and the next thing he knew, they were naked. Dean, on the other hand, had awakened Cas' flirtatious side - one he hadn't even known was there.  


"I might not ever leave." Dean winks, unabashedly flirting right back.  


Cas is trying to think of something else to say, when he sees Gabriel strolling towards him and Dean with his trademark 'I've got the biggest dick in this room' swagger. All of the blood drains from Cas' face and pools in the pit of his stomach.  


"So you _did_ come with someone." Gabe says. He gives Dean a good once over and sticks out his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Gabriel. Castiel and I are good friends. We go way back, don't we Cassie?"  


"Dean." The Alpha says.  


They shake hands and Cas suddenly wishes he had a steel pipe to take to Gabe's kneecaps.  


"Gabriel, do you have to be here right now? We're a little busy." He says.  


"I can see that," Gabe looks over the table. "Two specials with a side of bacon? Cassie, you're nothing if not predictable."  


"Will you stop?"  


Cas hates when Gabe calls him Cassie. He didn't like the nickname when they were sleeping together and he sure as fuck doesn't like it now.  


Gabriel bites back a smile. "Sorry, I know you hate that." He looks at Dean. "I couldn't even call him Cassie while we were dating. He used to get so angry."  


_Fuck._  


Dean crinkles his forehead in a mix of amusement and confusion. "You two used to date?"  


"Briefly." Cas interjects. " _Very_ briefly. I barely even remember it, really. It was less like a relationship and more like a bad dream."  


Gabe forces a laugh. "Cute, Cas. I wouldn't exactly call twelve months brief, but it's fine." Cas white knuckles the table and Gabriel continues. "Anyway, that's not why I came over here. I'm having an art show tonight and I thought the two of you might like to come."  


"No thanks, we're busy tonight." Cas says. He can feel the a headache beginning behind his eyes, and all he wants is for Gabriel to go away.  


"I really think you'd enjoy it, Cas. This show really tells my audience who I am as a photographer, and an artist. You could say that I'm letting everyone see _everything_."  


Cas immediately stands up and drags Gabe away from the table by the upper half of his arm. "What the hell are you doing?" He whispers.  


Gabriel gives Cas an innocent shrug. "Inviting you to the show-"  


"Fuck you Gabe, do you think I'm stupid? Why don't you just give me the film back?"  


"Cassie, I can't." His voice is pleading, but only barely. "I would if I could, but-"  


"You'd rather be an asshole than a decent human being for once in your life?"  


"You should really come to the show." Gabriel says softly, then looks over Cas' shoulder. "It was nice meeting you Dean! I hope I see you guys tonight."  


And with that, he's gone.

***

_Fuck that guy._  


Dean hasn't known Gabriel for more than two minutes, but he already knows he hates him.  


"So, your ex, he's a photographer too?" Dean asks as Cas comes back to the table.  


Cas grimaces and slides into his seat. The last thing he wants is for Dean to refer to Gabriel as his ex. The word felt binding, like a noose around Cas' neck, slowly strangling him to death.  


"Barely." Cas says, massaging his temples. "I taught him everything he knows and now he calls himself a professional. Honestly? He's a dick with a really expensive camera and I am _so_ sorry that you had to meet him."  


The Alpha nudges his plate away. "Yeah, it's fine. But he doesn't seem to get the message that you don't want anything to do with him anymore."  


"Um," Cas twiddles his thumbs underneath the tabletop. "Yeah, there's a reason for that."  


"What?"  


The Beta shakes his head. "It's embarrassing."  


Dean tilts his head to one side and uses a bit of that Alpha persuasion. "You can tell me." He says.  


Dean feels a twinge of guilt for taking advantage of Cas' Beta status just for the sake of being nosy, but he can't help himself. Even if it's just for a little while, Dean wants to know Cas. He already knew him in the biblical sense of the word, and now that he's sticking around for a few days while Sam obsesses over the Rubys, he might as well get to know him as a person too.  


Yup, that's his rationalization and he's sticking to it.  


Cas sighs. "When we were... Doing whatever it was that we were doing, he asked me to pose for him so he could practice with shot composition. Like I said, I taught him everything he knows. Long story short, he's got a roll of film with my naked pictures on it and he refuses to give it to me. So, in his deluded mind, we're playing some kind of twisted cat and mouse game where we're on the road to a relationship. Meanwhile, I'm just attempting to recover proof of the most shameful thing I've ever done."  


"Oh." Dean says.  


He's honestly at a loss for words. As impulsive as Cas seemed, Dean never imagined that he'd be one to have naked pictures somewhere in the world. A flare of jealousy ignites deep in his chest and Dean suddenly wants to hit something.  


Everyone has a past, sure, but just knowing that Gabriel has pictures of Cas the way Dean saw him last night drives him a little crazy. He doesn't want Gabriel to see the Beta like that, naked and vulnerable, curling into every touch...  


Come to think of it, Dean doesn't want anyone to see Cas like that.  


"Of course, my nudity on film only comes in second to the humiliation that I'm feeling right now." Cas huffs and hides his reddened face in his hands. "I don't know why I told you all of that."  


Dean reaches out and pulls one of Cas' hands into his own. "Cas, it's fine. You don't have to be embarrassed, I'm sure there's naked pictures of me floating around on the Internet for the world to see..."  


He uncovers his face and gives Dean a half smile. "Well as long as you have one too."  


"Eh," The Alpha shrugs with a smile. "One or twenty-seven, it doesn't really matter, I'm not counting. The point is, sometimes exes suck."  


_There it is again. The noose._  


"He's not my ex." Cas corrects, running his index finger over the inside of Dean's wrist. "We didn't date. He was just around when I needed someone, and I know how that sounds-"  


"It sounds honest."  


"It sounds heartless." He says. "I'm a terrible person. He's an ass, but I'm an ass too because I led him on for a year."  


"Castiel, there are terrible people in this world who do terrible things. You having sex with someone because you wanted sex does not make you one of these terrible people; it makes you human."  


"Well, when you put it like that..."  


"It doesn't feel like you're a criminal?"  


"Especially considering that you have a few regrettable snaps on the Internet too, my shame is receding."  


"Hey, those naked pictures were tasteful!"  


Dean's voice rises a bit too high and catches the attention of several diners. They look in Cas' direction, their foreheads crumpled in disapproval and Cas has to bite his lip to hold back laughter.  


"Come on," He says. "Let's get out of here."  


"Without paying? Castiel, you little rebel."  


Dean stands up and smirks as Cas leaves a five dollar bill on the table. He takes out a pen and scrawls 'IOU' across the top of a napkin before taking the Alpha's hand and pulling him toward the door.  


"Where are we going?" Dean asks.  


"I don't know," Cas beams. "I do know that I used to let run-ins with Gabriel ruin my day, but I won't anymore because he is an asshole. So, I am going to spend the rest of this really good day doing something other than thinking about him."  


Dean takes a deep breath, and before he knows what he's doing - before he can talk himself out of it - he kisses Cas. Dean pulls him in by his forearms and gives the Beta a hearty kiss, one that he'll be able to feel in his toes. He's not sure why he chose this particular moment to kiss him, it just felt like the right thing to do.  


He pulls away and runs his hand along Cas' shoulder, "So how to do you want to spend this good day?" Dean asks.  


Cas' eyes float up to meet the Alpha's and he gives Dean a lazy smile. "I'm going to show you what I do."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Also, comments make me happy!


End file.
